The following might help at unmanned fuel pumps,
1. insert card.
2. Soulevez Le Volet. Instructions Lcd or Recorded message. Some pumps have instructions in English as well as French.
3.Selectionnez Votre Carburent "choose your fuel" Press the button marked "Val"
4."Validez ou Choix Autre Carbrant" "Confirm or choose fuel".
5.Press button marked "Val" or change your choice of fuel.
6 "Composez Votre Code Confidential Et Validez" - Enter your Pin and confirm, enter 4 digit and press "Val".
7. "Impression Ticket"? Do you want a Receipt? Press "Oui" or "Non".
8. Servez - Vous Jusqu "@" (= Serve yourself to a maximum value of X (= (euros).
9. Remove the nozzle and fill up without exceeding the value indicated.
10. Replace the nozzle and your card will be returned.
11. If you have requested a receipt this will be printed automatically. You don't need to re insert your card.
12. You may see "VEuillez Patienter between instructions which means "Please Wait". You may also be asked "Avez - Vous one carte client" which means "Do you have a customer loyalty card?"
The above will help you to fill up without having to ask for assistance.
OR
1. Insert card.
2. Which Fuel - Gazole etc.
3. Press Green button with a "V" on it.
4. Ask's for your Pin number. Enter it and press "V" again. It will say "Code Bon".
5. It will then say you can have X amount of fuel in euros.
6. Receipt? "Recu", press "V" again. Always press "V" to confirm.
7. Enter pump number.
8. Carburante, ie, Essence 98, Essence 95, Gazole etc. Remember to press the number you want before Validisee. A safety feature is that once the card has been accepted for X euros then the machine promps you to pick up the correct filling nozzle.
Good Luck,
Rolandrat.

carol

28-10-2013, 21:10

That's really helpful for those new to France. Thanks for making the effort!

ronste

29-10-2013, 03:16

That's great , will print that off .have always gone to fuel stations in France where you could pay at kiosk !

Tbear

29-10-2013, 05:31

A very helpful and useful post.

Thankyou

Richard

DTDog

29-10-2013, 07:19

Brings back memories of last year for me!"!"

Went to a garage on the outskirts of Paris and it was one of them you had to pay for your fuel before receieving it. Well, thats what he told me, maybe I looked dodgy??

So, I handed my card to the attendant (expecting him to hold the card while I fill up) and the conversation went along the lines of :-
Garage: Home much fuel do you want?
Me: I dont know, I need it filling to the top.
Garage: How much will that be?
Me: I dont know, it's a big tank so it's going to be around 80+ ltr.
Garage: So shall I put 80 ltrs in?
Me: I want it filling to the top, so as much as it will take.
Garage: I need an amount to put on your card.
Me: Tell you what, give me my card back and I'll go to another (more helpful) garage.
Garage: No, you havent paid for your fuel yet!
Me: I havent had any fuel, give me my card back!
Garage: I will not give you your card until you have paid for some fuel!!

I said a few words to the effect of 'please return my property to me young Parisian gentleman, or I can see one of us having to have a few days off work due to a sore eye :mad1:

Card returned, followed by some French words which I can only imagine to be telling me to have a nice day and sorry for any inconvenience??

One of the MANY reasons why the next time I drive to Spain, I will be avoiding FRANCE !!

Seannachie

29-10-2013, 07:49

Brings back memories of last year for me!"!"

Went to a garage on the outskirts of Paris and it was one of them you had to pay for your fuel before receieving it. Well, thats what he told me, maybe I looked dodgy??

So, I handed my card to the attendant (expecting him to hold the card while I fill up) and the conversation went along the lines of :-
Garage: Home much fuel do you want?
Me: I dont know, I need it filling to the top.
Garage: How much will that be?
Me: I dont know, it's a big tank so it's going to be around 80+ ltr.
Garage: So shall I put 80 ltrs in?
Me: I want it filling to the top, so as much as it will take.
Garage: I need an amount to put on your card.
Me: Tell you what, give me my card back and I'll go to another (more helpful) garage.
Garage: No, you havent paid for your fuel yet!
Me: I havent had any fuel, give me my card back!
Garage: I will not give you your card until you have paid for some fuel!!

I said a few words to the effect of 'please return my property to me young Parisian gentleman, or I can see one of us having to have a few days off work due to a sore eye :mad1:

Card returned, followed by some French words which I can only imagine to be telling me to have a nice day and sorry for any inconvenience??

One of the MANY reasons why the next time I drive to Spain, I will be avoiding FRANCE !!

I don't know the French word for 'jobsworth' (perhaps 'fonctionaire', would do) but your man was certainly one of them. On second thoughts, fonctionaire would do - yes, I know it means 'official, civil servant, officer etc' which, in other words sums the type up exactly, especially in countries like France.

Frances

29-10-2013, 08:05

We had the same problem in Belgium when we were trying to fill up with LPG. We'd never come across a "pay in advance" pump, so spent quite a lot of time trying to coax the pump to give us some fuel to no avail. I asked for help which was kindly given and I was talked through the whole palavar. Queue to pay. I thought I'd go for a small amount just to get the hang of the system, so requested 10 euros worth. I was then asked - which pump? Back outside to check the pump number. Queue again to pay. Back outside and eventually coaxed 5.45 euros worth into the LPG tank. Queue to get change back. I was then asked for my receipt. Out of the queue again to search for a receipt, but they hadn't given me a receipt. I eventually got my change and they didn't make me queue on the last occasion.

It seems if you use these type of pumps "filling up" is not a wise choice.

Touringtheworld

29-10-2013, 09:02

Yep - it's those dodgy Brits making off without paying again.

It been like it all over Europe for quite some time now. We first experienced it near Antwerp - similar problem - how much do you want? I want to fill it up. How much do you want? Etc etc etc. Ended up paying €150 in cash before drawing fuel and then going back in for the change.
Btw if anyone is going to America it's getting the same there.

shortcircuit

29-10-2013, 09:29

One of the MANY reasons why the next time I drive to Spain, I will be avoiding FRANCE !!`

This will be a very interesting route ?????

I hope this is not a trend of asking for cash up front. My experience is that machine takes your details, gives you the card back and will then debit card once you have taken fuel you require. Will find out in due course

mark61

29-10-2013, 09:46

One of the MANY reasons why the next time I drive to Spain, I will be avoiding FRANCE !!`

This will be a very interesting route ?????

I hope this is not a trend of asking for cash up front. My experience is that machine takes your details, gives you the card back and will then debit card once you have taken fuel you require. Will find out in due course

Yes, looking forward to seeing the route as well. :)

barryd

29-10-2013, 09:50

Thanks to the OP for going to the effort of posting this as it does seem to confuse a few.

I nearly always pay at pump where possible. I think sometimes they take a deposit off the card before issuing fuel but I have never had anyone ask me for money up front or how much I want when paying at a kiosk. Strange one.

LPG pumps I think these days are either manned or you have to pay at kiosk (assuming they let you have the fuel which they usually do). they are switched off if the station is unmanned say on a Sunday.

I usually find the kiosk attendants in France very friendly on the whole. Its not exactly a great job and you meet some right miserable sods in the UK so I think its a bit drastic to avoid an entire country because of one A Hole! :D

Touringtheworld

29-10-2013, 11:00

It's not everywhere or even in every country - it's happened to us about 6 times in about 5 years.
I found in Spain that paying with a card, they sometimes ask for Id, passport etc.

maxi77

29-10-2013, 11:36

I suspect it is down to the number of 'runners' they have had recently. We have noticed different ways of doing it all over the place, sometimes in the boat it was because the pump and kiosk were on the road a 100 yards from the fuelling jetty, Portugal sometimes as for ID but it seems to be less common now, though supermarket based filling stations, which can be up to 5 cents a litre cheaper in Portugal, tend to have a no foreign cards rule. Another thing to watch for is discount promotions on certain days, once again can save a few cents a litre

Philcott

29-10-2013, 12:05

Feel a bit of an idiot asking this, but I don't speak any French at all - which fuel is which? I use diesel so what do I look for on the fuel pump? *blush*

Seannachie

29-10-2013, 12:15

Feel a bit of an idiot asking this, but I don't speak any French at all - which fuel is which? I use diesel so what do I look for on the fuel pump? *blush*
The pump or display should say 'Gazole'; it is a masculine noun but that is not relevant unless you are speaking or writing about it.

Philcott

29-10-2013, 13:11

The pump or display should say 'Gazole'; it is a masculine noun but that is not relevant unless you are speaking or writing about it.

Having been driven round Brittany by a Parisian I would tend to agree, though I have had a country Frenchman threaten to call the local plods because he didn't have the knouse to work my credit card unlike the chap in the services just north of Paris.

In general the French just like any other nationality have some suspicion of nasty foreigners when it comes to credit cards. I once had a major US airline suggest my UK Amex card was not acceptable in the US.

DTDog

29-10-2013, 15:55

One of the MANY reasons why the next time I drive to Spain, I will be avoiding FRANCE !!`

This will be a very interesting route ?????

I hope this is not a trend of asking for cash up front. My experience is that machine takes your details, gives you the card back and will then debit card once you have taken fuel you require. Will find out in due course

Portsmouth - Santander !!!

maxi77

29-10-2013, 16:00

Portsmouth - Santander !!!

Indeed but you will miss many wonderful parts of France. No one does moules frites quite like the French, except the Belgiums

shortcircuit

29-10-2013, 16:13

Portsmouth - Santander !!!

How do you `drive` that ?

Rodeo

29-10-2013, 16:32

Well thanks to the OP for posting the 'idiot list' as I like to call them. I will definitely be printing that out and taking it with me !

vindiboy

29-10-2013, 17:07

I have just returned home from a trip to Hungary, taking in Germany Belgium,Austria, Italy, and France and I used the Credit card for all my fuel purchases. Both in pay booths and automatic serve yourself garages with prepay with the card, I never had a problem anywhere and all of the automatic pay pumps allowed me to select the language I wanted to use at the outset of the transaction one outlet did not start using the automatic pay with your card till 2. Pm on the day I was there and as it was earlier than that the attendant did a manual transaction for fifty Euros on my card and handed me the fifty Euros so I could insert the notes in the machine and get my fuel, so I fail to see how a previous poster could have had so many problems,perhaps it is down to how one approaches people in the first place.